The present invention relates in general to dispensers, and in particular to a new and useful soap leaf dispenser for dispensing thin leaves of soap.
The presence of a slot in a dispenser to allow a finger to touch the top of a first sheet in a stack of sheets to dispense one sheet from a container has been used in many different environments and for many different purposes. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 1,815,083 to Weinberg.
A dispenser, which can open to replenish its content is also well known as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 2,269,525 to Fleischer.
Containers which are based on cosmetic cases are also known. One example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,237 to Steiman. Also see U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,311 to Garcia.
Mechanical dispensers for soap leaves are also known. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,731 to Hettinga. Self sealing dispenser packs to avoid entry of liquid are also known and exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,317 Sussman, et al.
Other patents show other examples of dispensers for dispensing thin sheet-like materials such as razor blades, credit cards and the like, or other uses for cosmetic compact type containers.
The most pertinent patents know to the applicants are:
U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) 1,815,083 Weinberg 2,269,525 Fleischer 2,346,488 Hoffmaster, et al. 2,557,323 Testi 3,109,538 Boxer 4,018,237 Steiman 4,170,914 Carrier 4,240,564 Pritchard 4,265,366 Schillinger, et al. 4,286,731 Hettinga 4,735,317 Sussman, et al. 4,739,902 Joslyn, et al. 4,770,320 Miles, et al. 4,826,014 Schefer 4,887,739 Parker 4,907,825 Miles, et al. 4,913,311 Garcia 5,080,223 Mitsuyama 5,125,505 Kurosaki 5,154,292 Bartucca, et al. 5,409,133 Gringer 5,417,345 Smith 5,560,476 Lee 5,718,329 Ippolito, et al. 5,730,319 Gray, et al. 5,755,356 Bastiaens, et al. 5,848,723 Krautsack